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There’d been the chance of trouble anywhere he’d gone, of course, but his locations had been too random to expect assassins from Centoi. Here? It was entirely possible that Ryenil had sent people to await his arrival. This estate would be the most likely place for him to run if things went wrong at the palace, after all.
He had to secure his home, and if Toren could give him the power to do so, it would be best done before anyone else was with him. Tes could protect herself, but if they had to travel herewith Speran, the risk would be too great. So Ber had quietly requested this place when the others weren’t paying attention.
Carefully, he crept through the garden, his dagger in hand. The well-maintained paths were empty, as expected. He checked each trail anyway. The nearest village might be far enough away to ensure privacy, but that didn’t make the area secure. When it came to assassins, perhaps it made it less so.
When he drew near enough to the house to be spotted from the windows, he slipped behind a line of tall hedges. The place was small by royal standards, two stories tall and without grand wings of rooms for entertaining. According to Toren, the place had been magically cleansed and sealed, so there weren’t even staff members living in the attic rooms. A clever assassin could have broken through the light shielding to inhabit the house.
He needed to scan, and for that, he would have to contact his brother.“I’m ready.”
Toren’s response was quick and simple—energy poured in.
Ber sought the place inside himself he’d learned to identify, if imperfectly. Like the truth spell, he’d done simple scans before, but the scale had been minute. There hadn’t been much of a need to grasp that ability deeply. With this level of power, though, it was several moments before he dared to release the proper spell. And all at once, he could see the location of every living thing on the estate.
Pain shot through his head from the overwhelming amount of information, and he scrambled to pull the spell back. But as he struggled to process the information, one thing became clear—two people were inside the house, one of them with magic. If they hadn’t sensed the overwhelming sweep of his spell, it would be a wonder.
“What are you doing?”Toren demanded.“That’s not a spell we’ve done at that level during experiments.”
Ber winced. Caught in the act.“I was scanning my estate for assassins.”
“Your—”A series of creative curses flowed from Toren’s mind.“Return. Now.”
Although his brother couldn’t see, Ber shook his head.“There are two people in there. I intend to find out who they are.”
“That was an ord—”
“Don’t say it,”Ber interrupted.“What if I need to bring Speran here? Besides, if I can’t take care of two assassins, I have no business attempting to breach the Centoi palace to kill Ryenil. Send bodyguards through if you like, but I’m not leaving until I know.”
More curses followed his words, but finally, Toren conceded.“Be careful.”
Ber sent his assent before closing the communication. Then he reinforced his shielding, the layers stronger than he’d ever managed before. There was a fair chance he would need it. Enough of the scanning spell lingered for him to sense the intruders’ location. They hadn’t moved. Either they hadn’t detected his magic after all, or they’d set a trap for him.
There was only one way to find out.
He crept between areas of cover, hedges and stands of trees acting as his protection. But eventually, even those would run out, unless he entered through the small basement entrance on the far side of the building. It was close to the forest, but that was its own risk. As the most obvious place to sneak in quietly, it would also be the most likely to hold traps.
He worked his way over, anyway. If he sensed anything amiss, he could try one of the other entrances. But when he peeked around a broad tree trunk to glimpse the slope leading down to the small door, he froze in surprise. A body slumped in a crumpled heap a short distance from the door, and if he weren’t mistaken, they wore clothes similar to those found in Centoi.
Had someone killed an assassin already?
Perhaps concerned villagers had caught someone out. Or perhaps the person Toren had assigned to care for the estate had included guards. Of course, there also could have been a dispute between assassins. They weren’t the type who hesitated to kill, after all. Who awaited him inside?
Allies? Or foes?
Chapter 45
Worth It
Ber already knew that the bottom rooms were empty, but he checked them, anyway. For most, he didn’t even need to go inside—the cleaning seals preserving the furnishings hadn’t been disturbed. Only the spells on the kitchen and the dining room had been broken. But if the intruder had hoped for food, they must have been terribly disappointed. No one had lived here for so long that not even preserved food remained in storage.
That left the upstairs, and the two people who awaited him.
If they weren’t aware of his presence, they were fools. Spies and assassins were the paranoid type, forever surrounded in layers of protection. Magical shields, physical traps—magical traps and physical shields—all standard. Although Ber hadn’t noted any of those things, he had to assume the pair had used some method. Even if they hadn’t, the mage had surely detected the hum of the magic Ber used to scan the lower rooms.
Yet nothing greeted him as he crept up the stairs. No spells. No traps. Nothing. Instinctively, Ber ducked lower and slowed his pace. There appeared to be no need. The pair he sensed didn’t move from the room at the end of the hallway, and none of the other chambers he passed had been unsealed. The hair rosealong his arms as he pressed his back against the wall beside the final door.
This couldn’t be right.
The store of his brother’s energy had been depleted enough that Ber managed a more delicate scan of the door, just the faintest brush. Finally, a shield—except, was that familiar energy? He’d always been sensitive to the nuances of magic, even when he couldn’t use it, and the flavor of this was something he’d encountered before. Carefully, he deepened the scan. Was that…Araxa?
